"OFFICIAL" Granger Hog Hunting Thread

[bho0351]

Last night as a single man, getting married tomorrow. Decided I'd spend it trying to kill something, anyone else out?

Congrats BigLig!!

[Wudstix]

BIGLIG, Best mistake I ever made.

[Briar Friar]

You just need a stickbow and quicker reflexes.

Yes! Im going that direction. Im about 4 man hours out from a Sarrel ambi Linx.

Good lick and congratulations BigLig!

Nice and soft yesterday. Pretty moist again today. My worst fears come true...barely any sign and no hogs around gate nine. Dang you AJ! AJ and I kicked up about 5 near gate 7. One shot no kills. Fantastic days for hunting!

Yee Hawg!

[ajcarricktx]

Sorry didn't think I could thin the population that fast lol. We don't talk about that one shot lol. Even the mighty swing and miss sometimes lol.

[Wudstix]

If you're not losing and breaking arrows you're not playing the game right.

[NightStalker]

Poor Range Estimation causes loss of Pork

Here is my story:

It was a dark and stormy night . . . . . no, wait, that is the wrong story.

There I was, knee-deep in grenade pins . . . . . . . . . no, that is still the wrong story.

OK, got it now.

I hunted gate 4 this morning, approaching from the north, off of county road 349. My mountain bike made short work of the 9/10 mile from the gate to the Willis Creek treeline. I parked the bike at A on the attached photo and continued on foot. Wind was out of the SE at about 4 mph. Heavy low overcast, but the morning fog had lifted. Heavy dew made for quiet walking. It was straight up 10 am when I parked the bike.

There is a patch of trees that juts out from the main Willis creek tree line that I wanted to hunt. It is bounded on the east by an old tank and gully. I first moved to get downwind of the area, the line in yellow on the map. Then I started to hunt in earnest. My technique in this situation: look down at my feet, (to avoid stepping on twigs) take 10 steps, look up and glass for 30 seconds. Repeat.

My hunt follows the white line on the map. Things looked good right off the bat, lots of fresh rooting. When I got to B, I saw something about 50 yards away in the binoculars that had the ‘wrong’ color and texture. Watching it for another 10 seconds, it moved! It was a pig. It was just inside the treeline, where a game trail came out. (C on the map) And it was foraging, not just resting.

I put a tree between it and me and started my stalk. Pretty easy to cover the first 20 yards. Over this period, the one pig had become three. Three sows, about 100 lbs each, almost pure black. And they had moved out of the treeline and were now in the open area, still foraging.

I was closer now, the foraging pigs themselves making noises that helped cover the sound of my approach. The morning birdsong was pretty strong too, which also helped. At about 30 yards I encountered an obstacle, a mud puddle. I knew from experience it was impossible to move quietly in the mud so I shifted (and lengthened) my approach to the east. I will admit my heart was pounding pretty hard about this time.

I got to a point where I estimated the range to be 20 yards to the nearest pig. But she was moving around and at that point had her butt toward me. I waited patiently, and a minute later she slowly shifted her position, giving me a direct broadside.

I slowly went to full draw. She heard the draw, her head came up and she was looking directly at me over her left shoulder, perfectly still. I was going for a double-lung shot and put the 20 yard pin just over and centered on her forearm and . . . let the string go.

The arrow hit high but perfectly centered. It was not a pass-through; most of the arrow was sticking out her right side, but the fletching was still showing on her left side as she ran away through the elders. I could hear the arrow banging on the brush as she bolted away. I followed the game trail the pig had taken and found not a drop of blood. Not a drop. I did find my bent and bloodied arrow about 15 yards down the trail.



I went back to the scene of the crime and paced off the actual range: 15 yards. A 15 yard shot with a 20 yard pin = overshoot and no pork. I have no doubt she will live to root another day. Meanwhile back at the ranch, I need to pull out the foam block and keep practicing at different ranges. Granger does not give up her treasures easily.

[ajcarricktx]

Great story. Range estimation is key out there. I practice all the time when I stop out there. I pick a spot guess the range then pull out the range finder and check. It has helped a lot.

[Wudstix]

Longbows have a range finder built into them, just saying.

[NightStalker]

When I grow up, I want to shoot a real bow like Wudstix. Till then, we do the best we can.

ajcarricktx: do you use a laser or a coincidence rangefinder?

[ajcarricktx]

I have a laser range finder. I found that there usually isn't enough time to use it all it there. I just keep training my eye to find range quicker and verify with it. I practice this in my back yard also.

[Xbow77]

Went to gate 4 this afternoon and saw your bike tracks heading in Nightstalker. Figured it was you. No luck but lots of signs. Try again later this weekend probably.

[Briar Friar]

Great story Nightstalker. Thanks for sharing! I havent quite wrapped my mind around where to put a dead hog on my bike....if I ever get a full sized one. Maybe field dress it and wear it on my head. Maybe just rope and dragging it on low gear. What was gonna be your technique?

Wudstix...your quips stick with me and wont let go. Keepem flowing!

Yee Hawg! Get some!

[NightStalker]

Two ways to haul hog parts out when using a bike.

1. Just like usual, get a sea-bag or duffel bag at the surplus store, put a trash bag inside it, and put the gutted and headed carcass inside that. (or the hams and backstraps) Put it on your back and ride. You can probably haul up to 80 lbs this way.

2. Rig up a seat post mount to either a regular game trailer or regular hand truck and tow it behind you. I don't go often enough (or get lucky often enough) to spring for a game trailer so I use my hand truck.



I think the hardware for the seat post mount cost all of $8

[NightStalker]

I leave the hand truck back with the pickup, then IF I am successful, go back and get it. Frankly, this worked better back when the trails were maintained.

Example: When I hunted Friday, I had the duffel bag with me, rolled up in my butt-pack.

[Xbow77]

I got an old golf pull cart I'm using when I get lucky enough. Can't wait to take a picture of one strapped in haha.